Hague Hotels

The West Farm and Country Boarding House was located on West Hague Road. Issac “Ike” Miller started “keeping people” around 1890. The property had been deeded to him and his wife, Martha Densmore in 1881 by Miller's parents, Samuel and Sarah Miller, for $600. There are two mentions in the Ticonderoga Sentinel of Miller's Farm House: 

September 10, 1891: “There is to be a social dance at I.G. Miller's Farm House, Hague, on Friday night September 18.”

July 21, 1892: “The guests of the season have been unusually slow in coming this year, but the arrivals for the past few days indicate a lively season yet. A few cottages are unoccupied but most of them are filled and the Phoenix and boarding houses are fast filling up. The Farm House is becoming quite popular and is already full.”

In 1907, two years after they wed, Burton Leander and Bessie Clifton West bought the farm (208 acres) and the boarding house from Isaac Miller for $2,500. The house had a kitchen, dining room, parlor, and 10 sleeping rooms. In the summer, Clifton and his parents slept in the laundry. The hired man stayed in the barn. Grandma Clifton had a room of her own. The only hot water was that heated on the kitchen stove. Some folks bathed in the brook if they dared. After the Wests sold the property, the farmhouse burned and was rebuilt.

As we know, before the advent of automobile travel and the flexibility for moving from place to place that cars offer, vacationers often came to Hague to spend the season in one place. Hague certainly offered many choices, among which was the West Farm Boarding House, which was a preferred location for those seeking a more rural less formal and quieter setting.

Though not located on the shores of the lake, the West boarding house was well enough known to be included in the 1912 D&H Railroads “A Summer Paradise,” which described it as being a mile and a half from the steamboat landing and having “very fine mountain scenery, pure spring water, shady lawns. Farm and dairy products; excellent table; livery.” It even included a photo of the bucolic setting.

Weekly rates were $7.00 per person, children included, and the rates did increase somewhat during World War 1 (1914 to 1919) when commodities were more expensive and harder to get. There was an extra charge for laundry.

Clifton West's writings tell us that their gardens and the farm itself provided much of what was needed for the table. They grew their own vegetables and raised chickens which provided eggs. Harry Miller had a poultry farm adjoining the West’s where they went for broilers. Their cows produced milk and butter; their sheep provided some meat and wool in the yard for winter clothes. Wild berries often made it onto the table. Apple and pear trees on the property provided ingredients for baked goods, applesauce, and cider. The cider had many uses: for vinegar, for making mincemeat, and for toppings.

With all this activity, Bessie West must have been a busy lady although Grandma Clifton did the cooking. Three meals a day were provided and were served to the family and guests at 8:00 AM, 12:30, and 6:00 PM. “Dinner” was the midday meal and was the heaviest meal of the day including soup, potato, two vegetables, meat, homemade bread, and pie or pudding. Their gardens not only provided for the summer table but were also canned and preserved to carry them through the winter months. While Grandma with the cooking, Bessie did the housework and laundry with the help of one girl. Sometimes the guests would help out but often not efficiently.

In 1992, when Aunt Grace Clifton and Uncle Charles Renner left the Rand Hotel, which was to be raised in preparation for the building of the Catholic Church, the Wests purchased a refrigerator and a large dining table which sat 10-12 with all the leaves in place. The meals were served family style. 

For two years they also had guests at the Rock and Rye, one of the Watrous houses. Grandma Clifton ran things at the farm while Bessie handled things at the Rock and Rye with the help of a girl for table and chambermaid work. Clifton was at the Rock and Rye for those summers to handle other chores as his father had a hand at the farm.

Clifton reported that most folks who came for the season were professionals. A number of the guests were of the Jewish faith and some were from the teaching staff at Columbia University. These folks must have been seeking a simpler life after a year in the city. In Clifton's musings about the period of World War 1, he mentioned some special guests:

· Ed Douglas brown, an army surgeon who established veterans hospitals around the US 

· Henry Humphrey Moore (1844 to 1926), deaf and dumb but a good artist who had taught Harry Watrous. The name of the hotel register was “H. H. Moore, refugee, 1916.” He was from Paris. 

· Louise Albert, a shell-shocked veteran, and his girlfriend

· George Lutz, a German veteran who said he was a submarine commander. The Wests never told the other guests that he was a German since the guests were anti-German at this time in history. 

· Isa E. Winnie, an Albany high school math teacher, started coming to the West farm in 1892 and taught Clifton to read at early age. 

· Professor Christopher Webb taught ancient history at Columbia 

· Mrs. Jesse Meyroitz came from 1892 until after 1920 and was sufficiently wealthy to have special services like meals in her room, a warming stove in her room, and being read to by Bessie. She was a pianist and perhaps one of the entertainers in the evening. 

· Michael Solomon, a Latin teacher from Colombia, came with his family in 1920, a lean year for guests. He said if they didn't mind Jews, he could fill the house. And so he did! 

The guests amused themselves with fishing, bird watching, botany, reading, rocking on the porch, hiking, and playing cards. They often had baseball games if there were enough men and boys. In Arthur S. Knight’s “Guide to the Adirondack Mountains” (1920), he states, “Hague has a summer life that is peculiarly its own. The group of hotels, the cottages, and camps unite in a sort of community effort to make things lively…Outdoor sports of all sorts, especially baseball, are well patronized.”

The West Farm had a piano and there were formal concerts in the evening. Often Clifton's father would hitch up the surrey and take folks for a ride through West Hague Road and New Hague Road. Jesse Sexton had a seven-person vehicle for hire and often took people to Ausable Chasm for an all-day outing. Sexton also had a large boat for sightseeing on the lake.

Most of the information herein was gleaned from the writings of Clifton F. West (1908-2001), one time Hague Town Historian and active founding member of The Hague Historical Society. Those of us interested in local history are forever indebted to Clifton for his writings. We recommend stopping by the Hague Museum to read Clifton's memoirs and musings.

Prepared by Pat McDonough on March 21, 2010